How did you get your start in design?
As a kid, I drew a lot. My mom says she would give me a pack of crayons and tell me to color inside the lines, but I never wanted to do that. I always wanted to do my own thing.
In my household, art wasn't really seen as a viable career, but we were all creative in our own ways. My mom makes cakes. That’s her hobby, the way she unleashes her creativity: decorating with colors and textures and sprinkles and everything. In Hispanic culture, you get your face smushed into the cake for your birthday, so everyone's always looking around, wondering who’s going to come up behind them. I remember being little, sitting in front of a cake that she’d made, and have early memories of wanting to make my own cakes, too
In high school, I was a part of the yearbook club, and I started taking graphic design classes. It was the first time I ever opened Adobe InDesign, and it was interesting to learn a new program. I loved the process of putting something together and making it look cohesive.
My small town has a rodeo every year, and there’s a poster competition for the graphic design students to promote it. When my poster won, I thought: “Huh! Maybe I should do this.” Up until then, I had no idea at all it was an option.
You studied graphic design in college. How did that help prep you for a creative career as a freelancer?
I learned how to take a project from beginning concept to finished product, how to brainstorm and research, and slowly come up with the idea that I would bring to life.
My program’s focus was on packaging. I love going to stores just to see what kind of packaging is out there, and see what other people and brands have done. I can totally geek out over something like a beautiful bottle of honey.
College was great, because it was nice to be around other people who were all pursuing the same thing. We’d support each other, critique each other, and work on projects together. The community we built really helped; sometimes other [non-design] people just don't understand, which can feel kind of isolating.
Besides browsing products, where else do you look for inspiration?
I try to pull from various sources, from the color of the sky, to the texture of a flower, to vintage lettering on Pinterest.
What do you listen to when it’s time to start working?
It definitely depends on my mood, but I love the Creative Peptalk podcast with Andy J. Pizza, the Tokyo Tales podcast from Simon and Martina, and BTS.
How do you find the balance between personal and professional projects?
They’re definitely connected. I once got some great advice: If a client doesn’t see something in your portfolio, they don’t know that you can do it, and they won’t hire you to do it. So I’ll often create because I want to, but also because I’d love to do more of something like it in the future — like making GIFs, which I’ve been really into lately.
How has your creative process evolved with the Adobe Illustrator on the iPad app?
Adobe Illustrator has always been my thing, but drawing on my iPad feels so natural now; Illustrator on the iPad has been a game changer for me, and so much fun to use. (I often find myself trying to undo or zoom in on paper.) I’ll bring a loose sketch into the app and use a combination of the Pen tool — if what I’m working on is more geometric — and the Shape tool to create strokes and hand-drawn detail.
My laptop is so heavy and burdensome, but I like taking my iPad everywhere. I can start a project on mobile and then finish it there, or on my desktop back at home.
Let’s take a closer look at a few of the projects you’ve made with Illustrator on the iPad. Tell us about these destination posters.
I’ve always loved traveling and learning about other cultures, but because of the pandemic, people aren’t moving around as much. Instead of pushing back places on my bucket list, I wanted to experience some of the things I’d been dreaming up, and spots I’ve always wanted to go. These posters were a way for me to look forward to something in the future, instead of just being down and sad about the news.
